Pupils No Match for Kasparov, Even Simultaneously

By MAURA REYNOLDS

Published: February 23, 1988

The world chess champion, Gary Kasparov, opened every game with the same move: king's pawn to E4. Then he slowly circled the children who had packed the gymnasium. He stared intently at each board for about 10 seconds, made a move and went on to the next.

''I hate the way he stares at me,'' said K. K. Karanja, 14 years old, as Mr. Kasparov moved a chess piece and went on to the next player. ''He's scary.''

But earlier in the afternoon, Mr. Kasparov had been jovial. As Mr. Kasparov arrived at Garrett A. Morgan Elementary School in the South Bronx, Brian Townsend, 11, undaunted by a blaze of television lights, walked up to the visitor, touched him on the arm and said, ''You're famous, aren't you?'' Mr. Kasparov smiled broadly and hugged him.

Mr. Kasparov played 59 simultaneous chess matches with New York City schoolchildren yesterday, most of whom were from poor neighborhoods.

At 22, Mr. Kasparov became the youngest world chess champion ever. Now 24, he arrived in New York Sunday for his first visit to the United States, at the invitation of the Manhattan Chess Club.

Mr. Kasparov, who played in a chess tournament in Canada last week, will play two more simultaneous board exhibitions while in New York, one at the Casa de Espana tonight and the other at Carnegie Hall tomorrow evening. On Thursday morning, he is to meet with Mayor Koch at City Hall.

The youngsters who took on the champion varied widely in expertise. Most were novices; a few had won chess titles of their own. Some managed to give the 24-year-old champion pause. Two of them, including K. K., played to a draw.

''He must have something up his sleeve,'' said Anthony Pagan, 15, of Junior High School 99 in East Harlem after capturing the world champion's queen - an accomplishment he regarded with suspicion. ''I think he gave it to me.'' 'Helps Their Ego'

The exhibition was the culmination of an innovative program by the Manhattan Chess Club to ''introduce the game to kids who probably have never seen a chess board before,'' said Douglas Bellizzi, the club president. ''It helps their ego, it helps their schoolwork, it helps them learn to think rationally, and it helps them to take responsibility for their decisions. ''Besides, kids like chess.'' The children gathered for the event yesterday agreed.

Tariq Yasin, 13, of J.H.S. 147 in the Bronx, said he played chess ''because you have to think, and I like that.''

Mr. Kasparov, for his part, seemed to welcome the children's challenge. ''I will be very happy if I am upset in any match because that will make them happy,'' he said. ''Besides, if we get a lot of children playing chess, we might just find a new, real talent.'' 'A Normal Opening Move'

One of the first players to cause a pause in Mr. Kasparov's rhythm was Nickolai Parker, a 13-year-old from the Hunter School in Manhattan. ''It was just a normal opening move,'' Nickolai, a former National Primary School Champion, said.

As the tournament continued, one by one the regular classes of the Morgan School filed quietly into the gym to see the champion.

Asked if the young man in the black and tan sweater leaning over a long row of tables looked like a world champion, Mariela Nater, 10, said, ''Only a little bit.''

''He looks like a regular person,'' she said, ''like he came from New York City instead of Russia.''

photo of Gary Kasparov, world chess champion, playing matches with schoolchildren (NYT/Vic DeLucia)